MaximillianRebo

Just watched a review of the Razor Crest Microfighter. What stood out for me (in a bad way) was the 1x4 technic bricks used to attach the engines. They really make the overall shape too blocky (pun slightly intended); maybe wedge plates or something over the top to hide those bricks or just a completely different engine design/connection method would've helped in a big way. I actually didn't mind the stud shooters - it's a microfighter, it's going to have stud shooters, and they can be easily removed without sacrificing anything. The other downside to the set is there's nothing new in the minifig. This will be the fourth? release of a Beskar Mando fig, and it's already shown up in cheap sets, unlike say Kylo Ren who could otherwise only be found in his much more expensive shuttle, or even ANH Han, also usually in more expensive sets.

Time for a new brick separator tool shaped like a claw hammer or nail puller to remove those axles

Digital first for me. The unlimited part selection available digitally means I can keep tweaking designs, saving older ideas to come back to, put two different builds of the same model side by side to compare which one I prefer. All of this done with Bricklink open in a browser so I can check that my model doesn't end up full of expensive/obscure parts! Then the real life build will often involve redesigns when I discover a connection isn't as stable as it appeared to be, there's a 1mm collision between two parts when Stud.io said it will be ok .... So in the end it's a bit of back and forth between digital and reality but it always starts with digital. Also it's great to see a model that originally only existed virtually come to life on your desk.

The Bard could be a great Dandelion/Jaskier for anyone making their own Witcher MOCs. Hoping that purple space torso means a new Classic Spaceman colour is on it's way soon.

$530 USD for an MBS set is a big price hike on previous models. I can't think of anything that would justify that price apart from a Death Star rerelease. I'm kind of hoping that either a) the digits were mixed around and it's $350 like the cantina price or b) it isn't a massive Endor set with both Ewok village and shield generator for $530. Personally I'd much rather see an Ewok village MBS priced and scaled similar to the cantina, with system scale shield generator and associated sets in the same wave, rather than a big, expensive all in one package.

Those prints on the Hoth soldiers look nice. Not sold on the builds, they look a bit chibi, but not surprising for this type of pack. But with 9 weapons in the pack, a few printed tiles and some spare parts...only problem is the price of the brick going up and being a Lego store exclusive, no sweet 20% off sale to look forward to.

That makes a lot of sense. People will buy up P1 Rex and Cody in droves as it's the first time they've been seen in years. Even though many would prefer P2, there's no guarantee they'll appear anytime soon and P1 is better than none at all. If P2 releases in 6-12 months time (or further down the track), people who buy the accessory pack next month will still happily spring for another version. Flip that release order, with P2 dropping first, and P1 sales would be a fraction of what they could have been. There's been an argument that TLG is leaving money on the table by not releasing P2 variants now, but maybe they're playing a longer game. It's a bold strategy, let's see if it pays off for them.

This seems more in line with what accessory packs from other themes have contained, and great to (hopefully) see remakes of a few characters that haven't been released in a long time. Now fingers crossed that between purchase limits (or lack of), store exclusives and limited release window this doesn't go all pear shaped and it's a free for all on the after market once again.

Add the 501st pack to that list. Maybe not for the whole world, but at least in Aus where it's never on the shelves, technically not retired as it still shows up on S@H - although permanently out of stock - and I've never seen a 3rd party seller asking less than 50% above retail price.

That's kind of where I'm at. It's a good pack which does exactly what it says on the box (although similar to figs and side builds that are available in other sets) but a $10 AUD price hike puts it alongside the Mandalore Duel, to me another overpriced set. Personally I'm not a fan of terrain builds, although as I would only get one of the pack I'm not the target market. Buying multiple packs with expanded terrain is probably more desirable than multiple vehicle side builds. Good thing is the included vehicle is canon, and a nice upgrade too; finally it looks like the rider is straddling the bike, rather than legs facing forwards. AT-ST looks pretty nice. As someone who didn't get the RO set this is a definite buy for me. Price is reasonable compared to other sets - 100 more pieces than this years X-wing, although possibly smaller pieces. I imagine it'll scale well with the UCS AT-AT, although is going to look big next to last year's system scale set with only 3" height difference. Figs look good; I would have liked to see a more snow covered Chewie, as he appears in the probe droid encounter. This one looks like he's been hanging out with Al Pacino

I'm not surprised by the rumoured figures for Boba's Palace. As has been said: main characters, guards, background characters. Yes it's a bit safe and predictable but also fits the scene in the set. I think this is another case of the difference between long time collectors who have multiple Bobas and the previous palace plus other figs and are looking for something new, versus the casual consumer who only has a handful of sets and almost certainly none of the previous Jabba related sets. An 'action figures not included' could help in this situation, but that's never gonna happen.

Another vote for a TIE Bomber as a set I'd like to see next year, plus I'd add a B-Wing to the list. Preferably the Ep 6 version, although I wouldn't say no to the Rebels variant - a good chance to get another Hera fig and something different in the colour scheme to a sea of bley.

I guess since the 501st became universally referred to as a 'battle pack' even though it also isn't, has resulted in other sets $30 or under with multiple factional soldiers and small builds given the same moniker, regardless of the set name.

I agree. I've never quite understood the desire for everything to be smooth and tiled off. Sure if looks nice and clean in it's own way but to me it doesn't look like Lego. Also I think in the case of an AT-AT the studs work and add something to the roughness of the exterior hull. Now on the other hand if this were a UCS Naboo Royal Cruiser I could make an exception...

I know this is the place for unpopular opinions so maybe I shouldn't be disagreeing, but I wouldn't say overpriced. Expensive? Yes, but not overpriced - well, sometimes I'll look at a set and think "they're asking that much?" but other sets seem much better value for what you get. At the end of the day you're not just paying for factories to churn out moulded plastic, the time cost for R+D on all new models would be a significant factor, plus in some cases licensing costs, plus the premium TLG gets to charge as a market leader. Plus there's the precision in the pieces. I can take a piece from a set from the 70s and connect it to a model bought last week and everything fits together snugly. That sort of build quality doesn't come cheap. No one would say no if the prices became cheaper, but I can understand (most of the time) why the sets cost what they do.

I can't remember a specific point where I said 'I'm done' but looking at my Brickset list, around age 13-14 I was getting fewer and fewer sets, and then a big gap for 25+ years ...

It's a pity there doesn't seem to be any microfighter creatures coming next wave, as a brick built Mudhorn or Blurrg would be great to see (or Boga, or Reek, or Acklay...)

I've gotta say I also prefer the brick-built creatures. I mean, it's Lego, so the point is to build something, out of bricks. Yes the moulded models do look more accurate, but they also look like something more out of a Kenner/Hasbro line-up than a Lego set. I can understand having smaller animals as a single mould, as the shape isn't possible at that scale given the thickness of a standard Lego piece, but a larger creature like a Rancor should be much more doable in brick built form.

Crunching some numbers - the rumour gave the piece count for this unknown 3 in 1 set as 644 pieces, which is the exact part count for Luke's Landspeeder, Obi-Wan's Hut and Duel on Mustafar, all of which contain a Skywalker. All three sets would be approaching the end of their product cycle, so a good time to bundle them as a 3 in 1 package (and Obi-Wan's hut is already retired in Aus, so no chance this bundle shows up here).

The 'not releasing in every country' part of this rumour makes more sense if it's just repackaged existing sets, possibly some regions have excess stock and this is a way to move them.

Regarding the Star Wars line, even though this year's winter wave was less enthusiastically received by many AFOLs, with its rerelease of X-Wing and TIE Fighter sets, the lower price point of those sets may have struck a chord with parents looking to buy a recognisable ship at an affordable price. Would be interesting to know how those sets fared and how much they contributed to keeping the line in the top five.

This must be something that composers, writers, painters etc. would discuss often. I once heard a songwriter say that their album was finished when they stopped working on it. You could say a MOC is finished when it is as close as possible to the image you have in your mind's eye of the completed model, or simply when you can't see anything more than can be done with it. That doesn't mean nothing more to add, as it's easy to go too far and add too much, decreasing the quality of the model. Maybe that's when a MOC is finished, when any possible alteration diminishes rather than improves the 'finished' product. Even then, composers and writers will revise their own works, often many years later, and the same can certainly apply to MOCs.

Great to see the Dark Troopers in a cheaper set - especially as I have no plan to get the Light Cruiser (now just fingers crossed for Fennec in Boba's Palace, which shouldn't be too much of a stretch). Since there's already a dark robes Luke in a recent set I guess it'll be the same fig, hopefully this time with a hood and cape.

Comparing the two models from the City line, the Fire Rescue Helicopter has a number of large and/or uncommon parts e.g. parts of the helicopter body, the yellow pylons, the larger sized spring loaded shooters, the various trans-orange and blue pieces. All of those will increase the production cost and therefore the retail price compared to the generally smaller and more common parts of the Camper Van.

I think many would expect only clones in a Star Wars CMF